Transmission of Divine Revelation

Transmission of Divine Revelation

• Social media is a powerful tool for disseminating information, but misuse can be harmful.
• In Jesus' and the Apostles' time, sharing salvation stories was difficult, requiring travel.
• Tradition comes from the Latin word "tradere," meaning to pass on.
• Initially, tradition was passed orally.
• Not all traditions are written down; the Bible doesn't contain every revelation.
• The Bible admits that books cannot contain everything.
• Cultural traditions arise from the Church's needs at specific times and places.
• Such traditions can be changed or eliminated without harming the integrity of the Christian faith.
• Doctrinal traditions are the living and lived faith of the Church.
• They are unchangeable as altering them would damage Christian faith's integrity.

Sacred Tradition

• Includes teachings the Apostles left, not just written scripture.
• The unbroken chain of succession of popes, bishops, priests, and deacons upholds these teachings.
• This tradition is the Church's teaching authority, exercised by the Pope in formal statements or by bishops in ecumenical councils.

"The Unshakable Tripod of Our Faith"

• A record of divine revelation, consisting of Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scriptures.
• Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scriptures are a deposit of truth.

Sacred Scriptures

• The Bible is a book for believers.
• It was written by believers and for believers.
• It records human experiences of God.
• Bible is an account of life preserved in memory.
• Records are seen as designed and influenced by God.
• The Bible is an event of community.

How to Distinguish Catholic Books

• Nihil Obstat: A censor's attestation that a book contains nothing harmful to faith or morals.
• Imprimi Potest: Permission to publish from a superior (e.g., religious superior, bishop).
• Imprimatur: Authorization to publish given by a bishop of the book's place or publication.
• Greek word "Byblos" refers to papyrus and "biblia" refers to a book (plural).
• St. Jerome used "bibliotheca divina" as another name for the Bible.
• Emperors and Popes played roles in collecting and translating the Bible.
• Bishops and others divided/arranged the biblical books into chapters and verses.
• Latin Vulgate - easier to understand by average people.

Inspiration

• The Bible interprets that the Bible is 100% Word of God and 100% written by men
• A form of inspiration from the Latin words "in" and "spirate" that means breathing into.
• Inspiration in the Bible is a type of giving life that is evident of life but not ecstatic, verbal, or mechanical.
• It is not a purely ideological act.

Biblical Inspiration

• The Holy Spirit specifically influences human authors so that they write what God intends.
• God is involved in the entire process of writing.
• God's role isn't limiting itself to pointing out or preventing errors from being written.

Principle of Causality

• The Holy Spirit is the primary cause of the Bible
• Humans serve as the secondary (instrumental) cause of the biblical text.

Dei Verbum (Pope Paul the 6th)

• States the Bible is reliable in teaching truth.
• Teaches without error the truth, which God wanted put into writing.

CCC 104

• The Church affirms the truth of Biblical inspiration as originating from God, not humans.

Providentissimus Deus (Pope Leo the 13th)

• Inspired texts that were recorded by God.
• Impelled them to write what God wanted, not by human desire.

Biblical Inerrancy

• The Bible is without error because it is God's word
• The Bible contains no errors, but teaches without errors.

Formation of the Sacred Scriptures

• Events and experiences form the basis
• Oral Tradition passes wisdom and history through stories, etc.
• Written Tradition preserves oral accounts and experiences.
• Edited Tradition combines original stories with new events.
• Canon of Scriptures is the selection of accepted biblical texts by the Church.

Canon

• Determining and measuring books that are inspired.
• Assessing sacred books, inspired by God.
• Church uses this process to recognise accepted books as canonical.

Canonization

• Church's official acceptance of a book as inspired.

Canonicity

• The ability of a book to be divinely inspired
• Inspiration and hence canonicity depend on the criteria the Church uses.

Old and New Testaments

• Both the Old and New Testaments can be characterized by their origin, coherence with past scriptures, consistent use in liturgy, and a constant language.
• Apocryphal writings aren't considered canonical.
• The Roman Catholic Bible includes more books in the Old Testament than the Protestant Bible.

Deuterocanonical

• Additional Old Testament books, called "Second Canon" have the same inspiration level as Protocanonicals (the first books).

Senses of the Scriptures

• The Catholic Church says that there are different ways to interpret Scripture:
• Literal sense: Author's direct meaning.
• Allegorical sense: Patterns and parallelism in the text leading to a deeper understanding of Christ's events.
• Moral sense: Teachings that lead to a moral, just life.
• Anagogical sense: The scriptures' relationship with eternal glory, and highlights our journey towards God's kingdom.